Street Fighter New Generation: 1 The Beginning of a New Journey
by Towermon222
Summary: Ryuka wants to be a great fighter like her father, Ryu, but he says she's not ready. Then a chance meeting with an American fighter changes her life. Please Read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Street Fighter or any of it's characters. This story takes place after the actual Street Fighter story. Ryu and Sakura ended up together and had a daughter. I will make a few changes to the actual plot from the original story. For example Ken had a son in the game, but he has a daughter in this so it'll be a more equal rival for Ryu's daughter

Here is a short list of the new characters that will be in this story:

Ryuka- Age: 16- Ryu and Sakura's daughter. She looks like her mother and has her energy. She dreams of becoming as good a fighter as her parents, and, to do that, she believes she needs to go on her own journey. Ryu believes she isn't ready for this and that she needs to continue to learn as much as she can.

She can be quite hyper at times and she's always late for something so she sometimes in a constant rush. She loves an adventure, and she loves to fight.

Her rival is Kendra Masters (Not in this story).

Her outfit consists of a white, but tighter, version of her father's gi that, like Sakura's shirt, doesn't cover her stomach, and it has no sleeves, like Ryu's gi. She also wears a short skirt like her mom's, but it's white with a black belt like her dad's. She wears a red headband like her dad. She wear's shoes like her mom's and gloves like her dad's. Her hair is also like her mom's, and she's also built like her mother.

Her moves are: Hadoken, Shoryuken, Flower Kick, Sailor Shot, Choba Throw, Tatsumaki Sempukyaku, most of her father's other moves, Super: Inferno Hadoken, Ultra Move: Nova Hadoken, and Secret Move (move type of my own invention): Ryu Hadoken (For those of you who don't know this, Ryu is Japanese for Dragon).

Singe McFlare- Age: 17- He's an American that's part Irish but doesn't have the accent. His father was a popular police officer in his home town in Ireland that wasn't afraid to brawl his man all the way to the police station. His mother was an artist from America that had a thing for exciting people.

He was born in America, but when he was seven, his whole life was changed by the visit of a man who simply referred to himself as Experiment X (Roman Numeral 10). The man beat Singe's father in a fight and then left. Singe has been searching for the man ever since and has had one other encounter with him when he was 8, just before the man disappeared, that left a sizable scar on his chest.

His travels have taken him all over the world and he's picked up a special fighting style called The Burning Fist, he's an expert in it, but still finds it hard to control at times.

Singe is a generally nice guy when he's not in the ring or talking about his rival. He finds his peace when he fights and will sometimes make the match last longer just so he can continue to feel at peace. He has quiet the extensive education from constant study, even during his travels.

His rival is Experiment X.

Singe has spiky red hair and his outfit is like Gen's, but it's not baggy, and the shirt is sleeveless. It's also red and it has flame designs. He wears sandals and he's not extremely big or muscled. On his hands are a pair of black, fingerless leather gloves that were a gift from his father.

His moves are: Proud Burn Fist, Spinning Burn Kick, Burning Pounder, Super: Full Body Inferno, Ultra: Phoenix Inferno, and Secret Move: Hellfire Inferno.

Experiment X- Age: ? (appears to be at least in his early to mid 20's)- Very little is known about this man, He is the 10th attempt at a perfect, man made warrior. He was held in Antarctica for ten years to train, and then he was sent into the world for a year and a half where he made a rival. He also has the strange ability to open holes in reality (called mirrors) and attack through them. Ten years later he's returned.

He is very calm and analytical when fighting and dose whatever it takes to win, but to some it's easy to see that he has his own opinions about what he's doing.

His rival is Singe McFlare.

He has black hair that reaches halfway down his neck, and he's extremely pale from lack of sunlight and the extreme cold he's trained in. He has extremely long, sharp nails as well. He wears a sleeveless black t-shirt with a dragon design on it and pair of black pants but he wears no shoes due to his long toe nails. He's built like Ryu.

His moves are: Frozen Decoy, Frozen Drake Claw, Teleporting Punch, Super: Piercing Drake Claw, Ultra: Interdimensional Drake Claw, and Secret Move: Ultimate Drake Claw.

Senka Hagane- Age: 23- An average street punk. He's a street fighter, but not a very popular one. He's a jerk by personality and profession. He has very tan skin and always wears a grey t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off along with black pants. He has green hair that stays in a spiky Mohawk. He always has sun glasses on. He's built a bit like Ryu.

He only has one special move at this time, and it's called 1000 Pound Kick. The rest off his moves will come up in another story.


	2. The Beginning of a New Journey

#1 The Beginning of a New Journey

Shibuya, Japan

Friday

Ryuka was in a hurry to get home for training, of course that was because she was late, as usual.

_"Ah man, dad's gonna kill me if I'm late again." _she thought as she ran through streets and alleys, not really paying attention to where she was headed, _"Well, not kill me, he'll more than likely give me that extremely irritated look he basically has plastered on his face now a days. Well, I can't blame him for having a that face all the time, he does have to put up with a wife and daughter that are as hyper as five year olds a sugar high sometimes. Maybe I should talk him into taking a vacation from training for… wait, where am I?"_

She stopped running and saw that she had taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up on the end of town her dad always told her to stay out of.

"Oh perfect," she said aloud, "now, not only am I late getting home, but I broke one of Dad's rules."

She looked around for anything familiar that might show her the way home, when she heard the sound of a scuffle in a nearby alley.

She walked over and peaked into the alley to see a strange looking boy around her age with spiky red hair and wearing a sleeveless martial artist outfit with flame designs and black fingerless gloves covered his hands, and he was surrounded by five street punks. Strangely, the boy wore no shoes.

One of the punks was Senka Hagane, the self proclaimed "King of the Back End." He was holding a pair of sandals in his hand and smiling like an idiot.

"I'm only going to ask you one last time to give me my sandals back before I'm forced to take on more draconian methods to retrieve them." said the boy.

"You use a lot of big words for such a small punk," said Senka, "whatcha gonna do if we don't give back your stupid sandals?"

"Then I'll have to beat the crud out of all of you until all that's left are piles of burned bones."

"Yeah right, get'em boys."

One of the men ran at the boy with his fist ready to punch him.

Ryuka saw the boy smile as he jumped up and over the guy running at him, and the boy kicked the man's knees causing him to fall to ground. The man was about to get up when the boy punched him in the head and knocked him out.

Another guy tried to do a flying kick at the boy's head, but the boy grabbed the man's foot and tossed the guy over his shoulder. This was a very impressive feat, as the man was at least twice the boy's size.

The next two guys ran at him together from each side, but the boy must've seen this coming, because he ducked and the two slammed into each other and fell to the ground unconscious.

The boy approached Senka.

"Take one step closer and you'll regret it." said Senka.

"Go ahead," said the boy, "make my day."

Senka jumped into the air with one foot pointed at the boy and all the force he had, "1000 Pound Kick!"

The boy just smiled and jumped up and over Senka and landed behind him as the kick hit the ground and made a rather large hole.

Senka turned around just in time to see the boy rear his fist back, "Proud Burn Fist!"

Just before the boy's fist hit Senka, it caught on fire; the punch burned Senka's shirt and knocked all the oxygen out of his body. He fell on his back.

The boy walked over to Senka's fallen body and took the sandals that were in his hands. He then started to mumble as he put the sandals on his feet.

Ryuka gave a quiet giggle that caused her to miss the boy looking over at where she was with his eyes.

"You can laugh out loud if you want," said the boy, causing Ryuka to jump, "I've known you were there the entire time."

Ryuka stepped into the alley just as the boy got his sandals on and stood up.

"How'd you know I was here." she asked.

"I'm trained to listen and analyze every sound I hear," said the boy, "and you're not very good at sneaking up and hiding."

"I've been told that."

"So, might I ask the name of the lovely looking girl before me?"

Ryuka blushed a little.

"You first." she said.

"Fair enough," said the boy, "I'm Singe McFlare, I'm 17 years old, and it's a pleasure to meet you. Now you talk."

"I'm Ryuka, I'm 16, and it's nice to meet you, too. That was an impressive fight."

"Thank you," said Singe, "I've been training since I was 2, so I should be pretty good at this by now."

"Where'd you train?"

"Well, at 2 it started in America for 3 years, then a few years in good old Ireland until I was 7, and after that at least a few months in multiple countries, mostly China and Japan."

"Mind if I ask what the whole fire thing was about?"

"Not at all, it's a special fighting style call The Burning Fist."

"Well it was really cool."

"Thanks. You must be a fighter, too, huh."

"Yeah, but I'm still… oh man, I forgot that I'm late for training at home."

"Well don't you think you should've been going home instead of stopping to watch a fight on the way?"

"I'm not even supposed to be in this part of town, I just ended up here because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Well, where do you live?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to tell a complete stranger my address."

"Hey, I'm strange, but I'm not a psycho."

Ryuka thought about it, she didn't know anything about this part of town, and it would dark before she found her bearings if she didn't have help. She came to the conclusion that she had no other choice.

"Okay."

Ryuka told Singe where she lived, and he smiled.

"I'll walk you home then," said Singe, "gotta warn you though, it's kind of long walk."

"Couldn't you just give me the directions?" asked Ryuka.

"Yes, but, with how late it's getting, I'd be ignoring my gentlemanly duty if didn't walk a girl as lovely as you through such an unsafe neighborhood."

Ryuka blushed again, and gave a nervous laugh.

"No offense," said Ryuka as she continued to blush, "but could you lay off on all the compliments, it makes me worried that you might be a womanizer or something."

"My apologies," said Singe, "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, but I believe that a girl should be told she looks good at least once a day. Now, follow me."

Singe and Ryuka walked out of the alley and down the road, Singe had a smile on his face, and Ryuka felt uncomfortable.

_"Ryuka,"_ she thought to herself, _"what are you doing? You're letting a guy you just met, in an alley none the less, walk you home. For all you know he could be a murderer, a rapist, or a rouge ninja sent to kill your dad. Okay, that last one's not very likely, but I still shouldn't trust him. I know, I'll use the lie detecting skills that mom's friend, Chun-Li, taught me."_

"So," Ryuka said to Singe, "you're American?"

"Yep," said Singe, "born and raised there."

"Okay, then why is your last name McFlare?"

"My dad is a full blooded Irishman, and I know you're thinking that'd I'd have the accent, but he wasn't around the house very often when I was young so I sound American."

"Who taught you how to fight?"

"My dad did, he was a cop, and darn good one at that. He was never afraid to beat down a suspect if it became necessary."

Ryuka nodded, _"He seems to be telling the truth so far, but I need ask him something more personal."_

"Why exactly are you here in Japan?" asked Ryuka.

"I'm training." said Singe.

"For what?"

Singe's smile disappeared and his face became one that was almost anger.

"I'm training myself to go up against my rival."

Ryuka didn't seem to understand.

"When I was seven," said Singe, "my family and I went to my dad's hometown in Ireland to visit his family, but it all went south when _he _showed up. I'll never forget him, pale skin and black hair. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and black pants. Every attack he had was as cold as ice itself. He hurt my dad, and then I tried to fight him. I failed, but I won't next time."

The look on Singe's face told Ryuka that he was definitely telling the truth, but then he quickly went back to his smile.

"Any other questions to put your mind at ease?" asked Singe.

"Uh… you knew why I was asking those questions?"

"Of course, you're walking home with a guy you just met in an alley, why wouldn't you question my trustworthiness? I'd frankly be worried if you didn't."

"Right, so, what was that guy's name, the one who hurt your dad, I mean?"

The smile on Singe's face faded again.

"He claimed he had no name, but he called himself Experiment X."

"X, as in the letter?"  
"X, as in the Roman Numeral for ten."

"Why would he call himself that?"

"From my understanding, he's the tenth in a long line of man made warriors. He was trained in the harshest conditions known to man, and he sure can take a beating. I'd go as far to say that he was hydra-headed."

"Hydra-what?"

"Hydra-headed, it comes from the old Greek myth of Heracles going up against the dragon known as the hydra, which had nine heads and when you cut off one, two grew in its place. The term means hard to destroy."

"Well…"

"Listen, Ryuka, it's okay for you to ask me questions, but how about you try to keep the subject as far away from Experiment X as possible?"

"Oh, okay."

Ryuka thought of what to say next, but she couldn't think of anything, except…

"So you think I look good?" asked Ryuka with a blush.

Singe's smile returned and he let out a small laugh.

"Yes Ryuka," said Singe, "in fact, the word beautiful wouldn't be going too far."

The blush on Ryuka's cheeks got deeper just as they stopped in front of the gate to her house. The sun was setting and it was dark, meaning that her dad would be inside awaiting an answer to why she missed training.

"Well," she said, "this is my stop."

"So it is," said Singe, "and I must be going as well, but I hope we meet again."

Singe extended his hand and Ryuka smiled and shook it. Singe then turned and started to leave.

Ryuka, turned towards the gate, but she stopped and looked back to say something to Singe, but he was gone.

She shrugged and turned back, then walked into her house where she was immediately met by her mother.

"Ryuka," said Sakura as she hugged her daughter, "I was so worried. Are you okay?"

She wore a red shirt with a big flower on it and pair of blue jeans.

"I'm fine, Mom," said Ryuka, "can you let me go now?"

"Sorry, It's just, I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you."

"Don't worry, Mom, I can take anything out there."

"I use to think that, too, but then I found out I was wrong."

Just then, Ryuka's father called from the kitchen.

"Ryuka," he called, "come here please."

Ryuka sighed, "This isn't going to end well."

"Don't worry," said her mother, "just tell him the truth and he won't be too hard on you."

Ryuka sighed once more and walked into the kitchen. Her dad wore his usual, white outfit, except for his red headband, which he'd given to Ryuka as a birthday present one year; he now wore a black one.

"Ryuka," said Ryu, "I'd like to ask why you skipped out on training."

"Okay," said Ryuka scratching the back of her head, "first I didn't skip out on training. I know you're thinking that I probably just blew it off to hang out with friends, but, I can assure you, I didn't. In fact a few girls asked me to come to the mall with them after school today, when I got done changing out of my school uniform and into my training outfit, and I said no."

"And?" asked her father, knowing there was more to it.

"Well, they asked why I couldn't come, and I went into this long speech on how important staying well trained was, and how that I'd always choose training over shopping. By the time I was done talking I was late, so I ran through the city thinking about how mad you were gonna be, and I ended up in the part of town you always told me to stay away from."

"Ryuka." sighed her father.

"I didn't do it on purpose, and, as soon as I realized, I tried to figure how to get back on track. Then, I heard a fight coming from a nearby alley and I…"

"Walked away from it, right?" asked her father, hopefully.

"Sorry Dad, I couldn't resist the thought of seeing a good fight."

Her father sighed.

"Anyway," said Ryuka, "I peeked into the alley and saw this strange boy surrounded by Senka Hagane and four of his men."

Ryuka's mother walked into kitchen at that moment to get dinner started and chimed in.

"Sounds just like Senka," said Sakura, "never one to fight fair."

"Yeah well," said Ryuka, "Senka had apparently taken the boy's shoes, and he was trying to get them back. Senka had his guys attack him, and the boy knocked out all four of them and barley lifted a finger."

"Sounds impressive." said Ryu.

"It was," said Ryuka, "then the boy walked towards Senka, and he, of course acted, all tough and tried to use his 1000 Pound Kick on the boy, but he jumped over him. When Senka turned around, the boy punched him in the stomach with a fist that was on fire. I think he called the move Proud Burn Fist."

"Anything else?" asked her father.

"Well, he'd known I was there, and he brought me home. He also told me a little about himself." said Ryuka.

"You let a complete stranger walk you home?" asked Sakura, curiously.

"I wasn't too sure about it either," said Ryuka, "but he said he'd be ignoring his gentlemanly duty if he let a beautiful girl like me walk home alone in the dark."

"He really said that?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah," said Ryuka, "first time I've ever had a guy, that wasn't a friend, call me beautiful."

"Well," said her mother, "maybe you'll meet him again."

"Maybe," said Ryuka, "but he got me thinking."

"About what?" asked Ryu.

"Well," she said, "he's only a year older than me, and he's traveling the world on his own."

"Here we go again." said Ryu.

"I'm serious, Dad, if he can do it, why can't I?"

"Because you're not ready," said the father, "It's a big world out there, and I can't risk you getting in it too early."

"But Dad…"

"The answer's no, Ryuka."

Ryuka pouted.

A few minutes later…

Ryuka was in her bed up in her room in the attic. Her mother had been nervous about her putting her room up there, but her dad believed that she should be able pick out her own room.

She wore a white tank top, and a pair of black pajama bottoms, and her headband.

Try as she might to go to sleep, she couldn't stop thinking about Singe. The boy who'd beaten five men while barely doing anything, who'd actually called her beautiful, who'd been nice enough to bring her home, and who was training to face a man who harmed his father; most of all though, he was the boy who was living her dream.

She slowly drifted of to sleep with the image of him smiling on her mind.

Ryuka had a strange dream that night.

She was someplace extremely cold, and she was searching for someplace warm.

She'd just spotted a cabin, when the figure of pale looking man stepped in front of her. He wore a black, sleeveless shirt with matching pants, and he looked at her in an evil way.

The man threw a punch at her head and she dodge. He did it again, but this time, he punched into a black hole next to him that was floating in the air.

The punch came out of another hole that opened behind her, and it hit her in the back.

She fell, face first, into snow.

She tried to get up, but the man grabbed her by the back of the shirt and dragged her to her feet. He then punched her in the stomach, kicked her in the side, and then slammed her back onto the ground.

The man was just about to bring a fist down on her head, when a fiery fist punched him in the stomach and knocked him down.

Ryuka looked up to see Singe standing above her, with his fist still on fire.

The other man got up and looked at Singe in anger, and then the two fighter's ran at each other.

Saturday

Ryuka awoke from her dream about to attack. She knew it had been a dream, but it was so real and vivid that she had to remind herself.

After that, she quickly got dress in her spare training outfit and went downstairs.

Her mom sat at the table eating toast with more pieces stacked on a plate. Her dad had obviously gotten up early to go train like he always did.

Sakura wore a white t-shirt and a pair of blues shorts, along with her gloves and headband.

"Morning Mom," said Ryuka as she grabbed a few pieces of toast, "what do you have planned for today?"

"I was thinking out going to train with your father in a few minutes, and then go shopping for supper." answered the mother.

"I need to make up for yesterday, so I'll come with you to train."

"Now Ryuka, I love training as much as the next fighter, but you need to take a little time for yourself every now and again."

"Yeah, but training is time for myself."

"What I mean is, go out with some friends, join a dojo, I'd even settle for you playing a prank on someone."

"But, if I don't train, dad will never think I'm ready to go on a journey of my own."

"Ryuka sweetie, have you ever heard the saying, 'too much of a good thing is a bad thing?'"

"Yeah but…"

"No buts, if you want to get better at something, you sometimes have to miss a practice or two."

"I guess you have a point, people can get better at something by taking a small break from it."

"Right, now I want you to make today about something other than training."

"Alright."

"Good, and if your dead set on training, then I'll let you in on a little secret."

"What?"

"Almost anything can be a training exercise."

"Really."

Sakura nodded.

"Did I ever tell you about my rival, Karin Kanzuki?" asked Sakura.

"A little." said Ryuka.

"Well, one time she challenged me to a rematch, and she let me pick what the first round would be. I picked this hot dog eating contest."

"A hot dog eating contest, really?"

"It was the first thing that popped into my head. Anyway, I trained for the contest, and I was sure I'd win, but Karin had been cheating, and then she wanted to fight me while I was on the verge of vomiting. Lucky for me, I had luck and friends on my side and won, well kinda."

Ryuka looked confused.

"What exactly was the point of that story?" she asked.

"The point was," said Sakura, "that I'd gone into the competition not thinking I'd learn anything, but it turned into training."

Ryuka thought about this.

_"Well,"_ she thought, _"Mom's story, though a little strange, does make a point. I could get training from just about any activity."_

"I guess I could take a trip to the mall." said Ryuka.

"That's an excellent idea," said her mother, "I'll even lend you some money."

Sakura put her hand in her pocket, and she pulled out 150 dollars (I'm using American denominations because I don't know the exchange rate).

"Now," she said, "don't spend this all in one place."

"Okay, Mom." said Ryuka.

The girl then got up and walked out of the house.

At the mall…

Ryuka looked around the mall for anything that interested her, but she saw nothing.

_"Just a bunch of people in a bunch of cramped stores,"_ she thought, _"what's fun about this?"_

She took a seat on a bench near the food court, and watched as people just walked and tried to get around each other.

Then, a women's clothes store caught her eye. It was a completely normal store, mannequin in the window, and clothing on the shelves, everything you'd expect to see.

Then, she saw a flash of spiky red hair.

_"Was that…?" _she thought, _"It couldn't be the same guy, could it?"_

She ran over to the store and walked inside, she then located the redhead she'd seen. She hid behind a shelf and peeked around at the person.

It was a man in a red, sleeveless shirt, black jeans, and fingerless black gloves. He was skinny, but muscular, and he was looking down at the clothes.

_ "It definitely looks like him from behind." _she thought, _"but how can I know for sure?"_

The man raised his head and gave a laugh.

"I thought I told you that you're bad at hiding." said the man.

"Singe," said Ryuka as she came out from her hiding place, "I thought that was you. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I like their prices on skirts here." said Singe.

"What!?" said Ryuka

"I'm joking, I'm trying pick out a present for a friend of mine."

"Oh, well, can I help; I've really got nothing else to do today."

"Sure, I could use a female opinion. I was thinking of getting her a kimono."

He held up a pink one with white flower designs.

"I think a kimono is a great idea," said Ryuka, "but that type of kimono you're holding is for married women."

Singe looked at what he was holding.

"Different kimonos have different meanings?" asked Singe.

"Yeah," said Ryuka, "I thought everyone knew that."

"Well, is there one that means, 'sorry I forgot your birthday for the third year in a row?'"

"Sadly no, and if she's your friend, how can you forget her birthday three times."

"I travel a lot, some things just slip my mind."

Ryuka sighed picked up a white kimono with a blue flowered design that looked a little different than the one Singe held.

"Here," she said, "this one is worn by single women, and the way it's made is suppose to attract suitors."

"Looks perfect," said Singe as he put the kimono he had down and took the one Ryuka held, "but, with her looks, I wouldn't say she needs any help getting suitors to come around."

"So is this present more than just an apology?"

"You mean do I have an ulterior motive, such as a relationship, that has made me want to buy something nice for a friend of mine that just happens to be a girl?"

"Yeah."

"No. I dated her once, but it ended badly."

"How badly?"

"Let's just say that I now know where the term venomous woman comes from."

Ryuka laughed.

"So why are you wearing your training gi to a mall?" asked Singe.

"Oh," said Ryuka, "well, I'd planned to train today, but my mom said that I should taking a break from training if I truly want to improve my skills, and, well, here I am. Now, you look different too. What's with the street clothes?"

"I always pack four outfits, two casual and two training. Now, what do you say I pay for this kimono, and then I thank you for helping me by getting you something to eat."

"I couldn't possibly…" Ryuka started to say.

"I insist, I've plenty of money to spare."

"Well, okay."

"Good, now I'm sure there's at least one place in this mall that makes a good burger and fries."

Ryuka laughed at this and followed him to the register.

At the register, Singe bought the kimono, and, as the clerk was folding it to fit in the bag, she looked at Ryuka, and then at Singe.

"You know," said the clerk, "I don't think this kimono you bought is going to fit your girlfriend here. It's for someone much curvier."

Singe busted out laughing, while Ryuka turned three different shades of red.

"Ma'am," said Singe, "this young lady is not my girlfriend; she's merely a friend I made during my visit here. The kimono is for a girl I know from another country that I'll be traveling to soon enough."

"Oh," said the clerk, "I'm sorry. You two just seem like you'd be a couple."

"Can we go now," said Ryuka, "this conversation is making me a bit uncomfortable."

"Right," said Singe as he took the bag with the kimono in it, "let's find that place to eat."

They walked out of the store to search for a place to eat when Ryuka's eye was caught by a poster and a sign-up sheet.

"What's that?" asked Ryuka.

"I don't know." said Singe as they walked over to see what it was.

Before them was a poster that read, "The Street Fighter Tournament Maximum Overdrive, sign up now for a chance to win big money and prizes."

"Ah man," said Ryuka, "a tournament would be awesome, but my dad would never let me enter."

"Well I signed up months ago," said Singe, "but it had a different poster."

"I want to sign up so bad," said Ryuka, "but I…"

"Just go ahead and sign up, and if your folks say no, then you just don't show up."  
"Is that allowed?"

"It happens at tons of tournament, but it can reflect badly on a fighter's reputation."

"I don't even have a rep yet, so why worry about it."

Ryuka signed her name to the paper.

"Good," said Singe, "now let's go get some food."

A few moments later, Ryuka and Singe sat at a table in the food court. Ryuka had a bowl of ramen, and Singe had a triple cheeseburger and 2 large orders of fries.

When they were done, Ryuka was amazed by how much Singe had eaten.

"Isn't that a little unhealthy?" she asked.

"It would be for most people," said Singe, "but my art, The Burning Fist, is a terrific work out and burns tons of calories."

Ryuka snickered.

"What's so funny?" asked Singe.

"You said it _burns _tons of calories." she said.

"Oh yeah, that is a little funny." Singe said with a chuckle.

_"I wonder if he'd be willing to tell me how he got his parents to let him go on a journey of his own?" _thought Ryuka, _"Who knows, it may help me get my parents to agree."_

"Um, Singe," she said, "I was wondering, what did your parents say about you going on your own journey."

Singe gave a weak smile at this question.

"Ryuka," said Singe, "I didn't ask them."

"What?"

"It was a few days after Experiment X hurt my dad, when I seven, I became so filled with hatred for the guy who'd hurt my father, that I snuck out of my house in the middle night, got a man to pose as my parent so I could get a plane ticket, and then left Ireland to find Experiment X."

"Whoa." said Ryuka, "Uh, well, did you find him?"

"Yes, when I was eight, and I fought him. I lost that fight, and now have an ever present reminder of my mistake scarred into my chest."

Singe tapped his chest, indicating where the mark was.

"So, you ran away from home to find the guy, and you lost everything?" asked Ryuka.

"Not really," said Singe with a smile, "two years later I was trying to find Experiment X again, and I found an article in a newspaper that my parents had actually sent out. It said that they missed me, wanted me to come home, and that I'd always have a home with them. So, I got on the fastest plane heading back to the US, and I went home."

"Did you get in trouble when you got back?"

"No, my parents were too happy to have me home to punish me, but I punished myself."

"How'd you do that?"

Singe frowned, and pulled the glove on his left hand off to reveal a burn scar on his palm.

"You did that to yourself?" asked Ryuka.

"I felt wrong getting off so easy," said Singe as he put the glove back on, "and I figured that if they weren't going to do something, I would."

"Then what happened?" asked Ryuka, "I mean, obviously they let you continue your journey."

"One month later actually, and that's what lead me to first trip to Japan, where I first learned the art of The Burning Fist."

"Speaking of that," said Ryuka, "where did that art come from?"

"The root in reality isn't known, but there's an old legend about a sorcerer that taught it to his apprentice, and apprentice turned out to be the long lost son of the empire at the time. When the apprentice ascended the throne, he taught the art to his guards, who taught it to their children, who taught it to their children, and so on and so forth. Later it was taught to entire villages, and then allowed to be learned by anyone."

"And the hearing thing I've seen you pull twice now?"

"The art requires that you be able to hear a pin drop in a room full of noise."

"No one can be that good."

Singe smiled, "The entire time I've been talking to you, I've been listening to the three girls sitting at the table two away from us."

"No way."

Singe smiled again, "Watch their lips."

"Okay, but wh…"

"Wow," Singe interrupted speaking at the same time as one of the girls at the table, "can you believe she's sitting with a guy like that?"

"No, it's impossible that he's here on his own accord," he said along with the second girl, "She must be paying him or something."

"Maybe they're siblings or something." he said along with the third girl.

The fist girl spoke again, "They don't even look alike, and I've seen that girl around school, she doesn't have any siblings. Plus, she's obsessed with fighting."

"Hey," Singe said with the second girl then added with a faux giggle, "let's see if we can ask."

"That's it." said Singe.

"Whoa," said Ryuka, "you _are_ good at hearing."

Just then, a French fry hit Ryuka in the head.

"Hey." said Ryuka as she turned and looked in the direction it'd come from.

It was the table with the three girls.

They flicked another French fry at her, and Ryuka scowled.

She was just about to get up and teach those girls a lesson after the third one, but Singe did instead.

"Allow me to go talk to those girls." he said.

"Okay." said Ryuka a little confused.

_ "What can he possibly do to three girls?" _she thought.

Singe walked over to the table and smiled at the girls, who smiled back.

"Hello girls," he said, "I couldn't help but notice you throwing French fries at my friend."

"Yeah," said one girl with a wink, "we wanted to get your attention, cutie."

"How can you possibly hang out with that Ryuka girl?" asked the second one.

"She and I have a little bit in common." said Singe.

"Well," said the third one, "why don't you dump her and find out what you have in common with us."

Singe's smile became a frown.

"Let's get a few things straight, girls," said Singe in a serious tone, "You don't dump friends, also I don't hang out with disrespectful girls who only care about looks. Now I'd like to ask you to stop throwing food at Ryuka, or you'll regret it."

The girls laughed.

"What are you gonna do, hit three girls?" asked the first one.

Singe looked at a nearby chair. It looked like it was made of hardwood, but Singe smiled.

"I don't hit girls," said Singe, "I scare them."

He put his fist's together and brought them down toward the chair.

"Burning Pounder!"

Singe's fists caught on fire as they hit the chair.

The piece of furniture broke into charred pieces of wood.

The three girls squealed.

"Hey," called the manager, "you're gonna have to pay for that."

"I will," said Singe as his smile returned, "just put it on my bill."

Singe then, quietly, walked back to the table.

Ryuka was astounded.

"Did you really just do that?" she asked.

Singe just smiled and shrugged.

"Man, I wish I could do that."

"Trust me," said Singe, "no you don't."

_"I wonder what drives Singe to fight."_ Ryuka thought to herself.

"Hey Singe?"

"Yeah?"

"Other than Experiment X, why do you fight?"

Singe smiled again, "Peace."

"What?"

"You know those moments when you're fighting, and you get that feeling like the only thing in the entire world is you and your opponent?"

Ryuka thought about it. She knew what he was talking about, and she'd only experienced that feeling twice. One time, in a fight with her dad, and the other, against her mother, and those were long fights.

"Well, as you probably know, that feeling is hard to come by. My reason for fighting is to find fighters who can make me experience that feeling."

"Wow," said Ryuka, "that's deep. So, have you found a fighter that can do that yet?"

"No," said Singe, "so I won't be in town much longer; unless I can find that someone in the next twenty-four hours."

Just then, Ryuka remember she needed to be home for lunch.

"I just remembered," she said, "I have to be going home."

"Well," said Singe, "I've enjoyed your company."

"Thanks, and I enjoyed talking to you again. Now I better get home before big bad Dad, Ryu, worries about his little girl."

Singe's eye went wide.

"Did you say Ryu?" asked Singe, "As in Ryu, the world's greatest fighter?"

"Yeah." said Ryuka, "Why?"

Singe smiled, "No reason, just a fan."

"Well okay, bye."

Ryuka left and Singe asked for the bill.

"Ryu, huh, maybe he can give me the fight I'm looking for."

Ryuka's House…

When Ryuka got home, she ran straight into the kitchen, where she found her mom cooking lunch. It smelled like noodles .

"Sorry if I'm a little late, Mom." she said.

"Don't worry," said Sakura, "I'm just glad you finally got out and did something other than train. Not even I did that."  
"I know, Mom. So, where's Dad?"

"He's taking a short nap. He trained extremely hard today, could hardly keep up with him at one point."

"Dad's still got it."

"He never lost it, sweetie." said Sakura, who then got a curious look on her face, "So, why were you a little late today?"

"Oh," said Ryuka, "well, you know that boy who walked me home the other night?"

Her mother nodded.

"Well I saw him at the mall buying a present for a friend of his." said Ryuka, "I helped him out, and he bought me something to eat."

"He bought you food?" asked Sakura.

"Well yeah. Then we talked about fighting and stuff, and then these three girls at another table started to flick French fries at me."

Sakura gave her daughter a stern look, "Did you get into a fight."

"Actually, no." said Ryuka, "The boy got up and talked to them for a few minutes, I guess telling them to quit flicking food at me, then, to emphasize his point I suppose, put his fist together, caught them on fire, and broke a chair."

"That sounds a little over the top."

"Well it got them to stop, so I'm grateful."

At that moment, Ryu walked into the kitchen wearing only the pants and belt from his training outfit.

"Hey, Dad," said Ryuka, "hard day of training."

"Very much so, Ryuka," said her father, "so how was your day off from training?"

"I enjoyed it," said Ryuka, "still wanna train though."

"She's not telling you the whole story," said Sakura, "she met that boy from yesterday again."

"Mom." Ryuka said in annoyance.

"I don't see what's so wrong about telling your father that. From what you told me, he's sound like a nice guy."

"I'm curious as to how much you even know about this boy." said Ryu.

"I know he's a 17 year old fighter who's been traveling alone since he was 7." said Ryuka.

"How'd he manage that?" asked Sakura.

"Uh…" Ryuka paused.

_ "Great job Ryuka," _she thought to herself, _"you tell them he ran away from home, and you'll never get your point across."_

Ryuka was just about to make something up when Ryu stood up.

"Ryu," said Sakura, "what's wrong?"

"I sense something," he said, "a strange aura, and it's close."

The whole family took fighting stances and prepared for something to bust down the door.

After awhile, all that came was a knock.

The family looked to one another.

Ryuka slowly walked to the door and opened it. Standing before her, in the outfit she'd seen him in yesterday, was Singe McFlare.

"Hello Ryuka." he said.

"Singe?" she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to meet the parents of such a lovely girl."

"Oh uh, okay."

She moved out of the way to let him enter.

"Mom, Dad," she said, "this is the boy from yesterday."

"The name is Singe McFlare," he said with a bow, "and I'm honored to meet the honorable parents of a new friend. By the way you're standing I can see you were expecting someone a little less friendly than myself."

"Sorry, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Sakura." said Sakura as she and her husband got out of their fighting stances.

"No problem ma'am and it's nice to meet you. I can see where Ryuka gets her lovely appearance."

Ryuka and her mother blushed.

"It's also obvious where she gets her fighting spirit, Ryu." said Singe with a smile.

"Interesting how you refer to me by name and not my wife." said Ryu.

"You're very observant, Ryu," said Singe, "and you've got me, I have no interest in your wife due to the fact I'm looking for you. I want to fight."

"You what?!" said Ryuka.

"As I told you earlier, Ryuka, my reason for fighting is to find fighter's who can give me a feeling of peace."

"That's why you got so interested when I said my dad's name."

"So you were using my daughter!" yelled Ryu.

"Quite the contrary," said Singe, "I was unaware of your relation to Ryuka until today. Now, all I ask is one fight at your best."

"Then I ac…"

"No dad." interrupted Ryuka.

Ryu looked at his daughter.

"Dad," she said, "you've been training all day. You can't give him the kind of battle he wants."

"Then what do you suggest Ryuka?" asked Singe.

"I suggest you fight me instead."

"What?!" said Ryu.

Singe contemplated this idea.

"Okay," said Singe, "and if I win, I get my fight with your father."

"Of course." said Ryuka.

"Then it I'm in."

"You don't seriously think I'll let you…" Ryu started to say.

"Let her fight, Ryu," said Sakura, "you know you can't stop her from doing it. She's like you that way."

Ryu sighed, "Fine."

A few moments later they were outside the house where they wouldn't destroy anything.

"3...," said Sakura as Singe and Ryuka got into fighting stances.

"I'd just quit now Ryuka," said Singe, "you've seen my moves."

Ryuka just smiled.

"…2...1...Fight!" shouted Sakura.

Ryuka ran at Singe and into the air half way to him and extended her leg, "Tatsumaki Sempukyaku!"

As her foot neared Singe's face, he raised one hand and grabbed it.

"Really," he said, "That's how you're gonna start this?"

He then threw her over his shoulder. She landed with a thud on the ground, but quickly got up as Singe came at her.

She readied for a punch, but was surprised when he jumped into the air and, in motion like Chun-Li's, began to spin with both legs sticking out and caught himself on fire.

"Spinning Burn Kick!"

Ryuka was hit seven times by his feet, and an additional time as Singe flipped back up onto his feet and got her in the chin with an uppercut.

She smiled after she recovered.

"Why are you smiling?" asked Singe.

"Because I'm happy you got so close." she said.

She came at him in a Flower Kick and hit him in the side, and then she grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him in her Choba Throw.

He hit the ground hard, and she stood behind him.

"Alright," said Singe with a smile as he got up, "now this should start to become much more fun from here."

He turned around at that moment to see Ryuka coming at him again, and she jumped up into an uppercut.

"Shoryuken!"

Singe quickly dodged, grabbed her ankle while she was still up in the air, and threw her to his left.

He then ran over to her before she could get up and put both his fists together, and then he caught them on fire.

"Burning Pounder!" he yelled as he brought his fists down.

Ryuka quickly rolled out of the way, jumped up, and punched Singe in the face. She then threw him in her Sailor Shot.

Singe got up after that and spat dirt out of his mouth.

"I'm really getting tired of that taste." he said.

Ryuka put both of her hands together, and blue energy started to accumulate into a sphere.

"Hadoken!" she yelled as she launched the sphere.

The ball came flying at Singe and he put his arms up to block.

The ball hit and Singe appeared slightly hurt by it.

"So we're playing that way, huh?" said Singe.

The boy ran towards Ryuka and caught his fist on fire.

"Proud Burn Fist!"

He punched Ryuka in the stomach, and then, his fist still ablaze, punched her again. He brought his knee up and hit her again, and finally, he grabbed her arm and threw her up in the air, jumped up and punched her in the stomach one last time.

She landed on the ground with something more of a crash than a thud; while Singe landed on his feet.

"I win." said Singe as he walked toward Ryu.

_"No!"_ thought Ryuka, _"I can't let it end like this. I've got to get up. I've got to keep fighting! I won't give up, and I refuse to lose!"_

Ryuka got to her feet, breathing heavily.

Singe heard he get up and turned to look at her.

"What," he asked, "we not done yet?"

"Not by a long shot."

She put her hands together once more and a sphere started to form.

"Ha…" Ryuka began.

There was something different about this Hadoken, it was bigger and red flames appeared to be surrounding it.

"…do…."

Singe was stunned at what he was seeing, as was the girl's father but more at the fact that his daughter had so much power.

…ken!"

The sphere launched with incredible speed and slammed in Singe with so much force that he was thrown to the ground by it.

Ryuka smiled, but it faded as Singe got to his feet laughing. A huge hole was in shirt where the blast had hit, and the hole revealed a huge, ugly scar on his chest.

"Well Ryuka," said Singe, "if you're going for your most powerful move, so am I."

Suddenly, his whole body caught fire and he ran towards Ryuka, and then, as he loomed over her he yelled, "Full Body Inferno!"

He then rapidly punched Ryuka everywhere he could, and she took every hit.

When he finally stopped, Ryuka fell to the ground unconscious.

"Ryuka!" yelled Ryu.

The fire around Singe suddenly went out and he fell to his knees breathing like he was having an asthma attack until he, too, passed out.

One hour later…

Ryuka jumped up from the floor mat her parents had laid her on in the house.

"What happened?" she asked when she spotted her mom at the door, "Did I win?"

"Not exactly." said Sakura.

Ryu came busting into the room after that to check on his daughter.

"Are you alright?" he asked, "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine dad," she said, "but what to Singe."

A moan came from the other end of the room, and Ryuka turned to see Singe getting up from his own mat.

"Note to self, breathing while surrounded by fire hurts and is a very bad idea."  
"You," said Ryu as he stepped closer to Singe, "you could have killed her."

Singe smiled, "Oh please, I was barely giving it my all till my last move. She's tougher than I thought though, probably tougher than you think, too."

Ryu was about to punch the boy but stopped as he realized he was right.

"That was an impressive move near the end, Ryuka," said Singe, "wish I could stay and help you harness that power, but I've got a plane to catch."

He started to walk out the door when he stopped and turned to look at Ryuka, "Then again, I might see you at the tournament."

Ryu looked at his daughter, who suddenly cringed.

"What tournament?"

"I was gonna tell you dad," said Ryuka, "I signed up for this tournament. I didn't plan on actually going because I knew you'd say no, and…"

"Pack a bag Ryuka." said Ryu.

"What?" said Ryuka and her mother in surprise.

"I saw you use a lot strength against Singe, and I realized that you need to see the world as I did." he said.

"What exactly does that mean, Dad?" asked Ryuka.

"You may go to the tournament."

Ryuka squealed with glee and ran over to her mother and hugged her mother and Singe.

Ryu looked at Singe.

"As for you," he said, "I'm giving you the job of making sure she doesn't get hurt."

Singe smiled, "Absolutely, sir. Now Ryuka, you go pack everything you'll need."

She nodded ran up to her room.

_"I finally get to start my adventure!"_

Meanwhile…

Somewhere in Antarctica

At a secret base in the frozen wasteland, a man with pale skin and dark hair sits meditating in cold air in nothing but a pair of black pants.

He hear the doctors inside talking. They were saying that the McFlare boy was trying too hard to find him. He also knew that left them two choices, exterminate Singe, or him.

Neither idea was to his taste, so he'd left a small present in the lab that should keep them busy while he took things into his own hands.

"KABOOM!"

A bomb went off in the lab, and the man smiled as he got up and walked to the secret airfield nearby. He walked up to the biggest plane and knocked on the door five times.

A large man, built like Able in fact, answered the door. He had white hair and wore a tux.

"Everything going as planned sir?" asked the large man.

The pale one nodded as he entered the plane.

"Good, now are we going anywhere in particular?"

They were, as a matter of fact. He had looked up where his target was headed, the McFlare boy was well traveled, but he knew that he was going to a tournament.

He didn't understand this urge to go after the boy; he just knew that he had to. From this point on though, the one know as Experiment X was gone. He was not a tool to be used by those scientists.

He finally turned and looked at the large man, his loyal butler.

"Take me to China."

The End, but, truly the Beginning.


End file.
